BJP allies, the TDP and JD(U), have extended support to the Bill as the Lok Sabha is set to witness an eight-hour — likely raucous — discussion.
Published Apr 02, 2025 | 1:05 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 02, 2025 | 4:02 PM
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju speaking on the Waqf (Amendment) Bill in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 2 April.
Synopsis: Various church bodies have supported the Bill, calling for its early passing in Parliament even as the Opposition parties are set to take a strong stand against the government’s move.
Munambam, once a discreet coastal village in Kerala’s Ernakulam district, is set to become a reference point as the controversial Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2004, is presented in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, 2 April.
More than 600 families at Munambam have been on a warpath ever since the Kerala Waqf Board laid claim to their properties, spread over 400 acres, bought from the Farook College in Kozhikode.
Siddique Sait, the original owner, had gifted the property to Farook College through a Waqf deed in 1950 for educational and charitable purposes. The college sold the land in the 1960s.
The protesting Munambam residents have the support of pro-Hindu and Christian organisations.
Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Kiren Rijiju — who introduced the Bill on Wednesday — has been highlighting the support of the Church to the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, despite strong resistance from the Opposition, who termed it “targeted legislation” that is “fundamentally against the Constitutional provisions”.
Rijiju shared on X (previously Twitter) the statements of the Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI), the Church of Bharat, and the Kerala Council of Churches.
The Church of Bharat welcomed the omission of certain provisions in the existing Waqf Act, calling them inhuman and inconsistent with the nation’s secular fabric. It urged the government to pass the Bill swiftly to resolve long-standing disputes, particularly in Munambam.
The CBCI also acknowledged the need for amendments, citing legal battles faced by over 600 families in Munambam. It called for an unbiased approach to ensure rightful land ownership while safeguarding minority rights.
BJP allies, the TDP and JD(U), too, have extended support to the Bill as it comes up for an eight-hour — and likely raucous — discussion in the Lok Sabha.
Meanwhile, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi discussed the party’s stance on the upcoming Waqf Amendment Bill with its MPs on Wednesday.
Congress Chief Whip in the Lok Sabha, Kodikkunnil Suresh, stated that the INDIA bloc unanimously opposes the Bill and will resist it in Parliament, including through its members in the Joint Parliamentary Committee.
Suresh issued a whip to all party MPs in the Lok Sabha, asking them to attend the sessions for the next three days.
“Very important issues will be taken up for discussion in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, i.e., April 2, 3 and 4, 2025. All members of the Congress party in the Lok Sabha are requested to kindly remain present in the House from 11 am onwards till the adjournment of the House on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, i.e., April 2, 3, and 4, 2025, without fail and support the party stand, the whip said.
The NDA has 293 members in the Lok Sabha, much above the majority mark of 272. In the Upper House, the ruling alliance has 126 members, which is also above the required majority of 119 lawmakers.
BJP’s Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar called upon all MPs to step up and help people who are in distress.
“This Waqf Amendment Bill is about making sure every community, including every minority community, has the same set of rights under the Indian Constitution.
“The current Waqf Act needs to be amended fairly, transparently, and I’m hoping that Congress and the Kerala MPs can look past their traditional, typical appeasement politics and do what is right for the people of Munambam,” he said on X.
The BJP Kerala has also decided to stage protests on Wednesday at the residences of all INDIA bloc MPs in the state, opposing their stance against the Bill in Parliament.
The party termed their position unconstitutional.
In the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram,the protest march will be inaugurated by former BJP state president K Surendran.
Leaders including Shon George are expected to participate.
The BJP has accused both UDF and LDF of appeasement politics, asserting that the amendment was necessary for transparency and fairness in the Waqf administration.
In Karnataka, BJP MLC CT Ravi said the new Bill would set right the anomalies in the existing law. “There is nothing wrong with the Waqf (Amendment) Bill. The earlier law allowed the Waqf Board to snatch or grab anybody’s land which is unconstitutional. The current Bill has rectified it and set it right,” he said.
The Indian Union Muslim League (IUML) leaders Panakkad Sayyid Sadiq Ali Shihab Thangal and PK Kunhalikutty asserted that the party will legally challenge the Waqf (Amendment) Bill even if it is passed in Parliament.
Kunhalikutty said the Bill would impact not just the Muslim community but also other minority groups, as it contained provisions that would violate their rights.
Addressing the ongoing land dispute at Munambam, he said it should not be linked to the Waqf issue.
“The Kerala government alone has the authority to resolve the Munambam issue. There are other motives behind linking it with Waqf,” he said.
He also blamed the ruling LDF for the crisis, stating that the issue emerged from a commission report during the VS Achuthanandan government.
“When we were handling Waqf matters, the Munambam issue did not exist. It was created by the LDF government, which has failed to resolve it,” he alleged.
